Edge of Insanity
by SunflowerCity
Summary: After being dragged out of Hell, Castiel Novak was a little done. Add a bunch of angels, an Apocalypse, a demon, and suddenly he was completely done with everything. Reverse!verse, non-main character OCs, and Destiel.
1. Prologue

It was always dark in Hell. The walls were covered in blood, and bits of flesh. There were screams of terror, flashes of lightning and smoke. There were no lights, as they would flicker when the tormentors walked by, causing a wave of annoyance throughout the occupants of the inferno.

Cas had long since given up on fighting. A man would always ask him if he wanted to torture or be tortured, and after years of enduring the worst kinds of pain, he finally chose to save himself. It was almost worse to see the anguish he inflicted upon others. The face they would make as he broke them, shattered their souls; but then he remembered when he felt that way, and it suddenly didn't hurt anymore.

Sometimes, he would wish that his brother would sell his soul to save Cas, but when he thought about his brother going through the same pain he was feeling, the thought vanished almost as quickly as it came. He wished someone would rescue him, but deep down he knew it was a naive and childish dream. He was stuck in Hell, and there was no one to save him.

At one point during his fortieth year, nearing his fiftieth, Cas saw a light. It was bright, almost tricking him into thinking it was the sun, but after decades in Hell, he knew better. As the light grew brighter, Cas realized this wasn't something he was imagining. He wondered briefly if this was a new way the demons had decided to torture him-maybe they wanted to give him false hope of escaping. Closing his eyes, and not for the first time, he desperately wished the torture would end, and that he would be free.

The light shined brighter, if that were even possible, and Cas went to shield his eyes, only to realize that the light shined through the barrier he attempted to make. As hands gripped his shoulders he released a whimper. He went quiet as the person holding him shushed him. Cas risked a glance at the one supporting him and saw him open his mouth. A piercing noise filled the area causing Cas to cover his ears, as if doing that would stop the noise completely. Soon the noise was too much and he surrendered to the darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

Sorry for the shortness of the prologue! Hopefully this chapter length is better! Anyway, this is my first fanfiction and any critiques would be welcome! Thanks!~

* * *

Dean was late. He knew this, but couldn't bring himself to move. His newest charge could spare a few more minutes, right? The humans were just so interesting to watch. He couldn't help but be intrigued. The female he was watching was pretty, he thought to himself. For a human, she looked nice enough. He had been watching this specific human for quite some time, and he faintly remembered her name being Lisa.

There was a slight flutter of wings, and his best friend and brother, Samuel appeared beside him. "Dean," He chastised, "You need to take responsibility of your charge." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Sammy." The other angel sighed at the pet name.

"You know it's an order. Anna said if you disobey again she'll restrict your outings to Earth. Come on, Dean, just drag the poor guy out of Hell." Dean grumbled incoherently under his breath. "Sam, just give me a few more minutes. I'll get him later."

Sam laughed bitterly. "You don't get it, do you? This is the Righteous Man, and if you fail, the apocalypse begins, and the human world is lost. You know John cannot be released from the pit."

Dean took a sharp breath, he hadn't thought of that. The fact that he had the fate of the entire human world, and possibly the angels' resting on his shoulders did nothing to alleviate the stress he was already feeling. "I'll get there," He said stubbornly. "Just leave me alone for a few minutes." Sam sighed but left a moment later.

Dean attempted to once more watch the pretty human but groaned when he saw that she had left. "Damn it Sam." He stood up and reappeared in Hell, smiting any demons that came near him. "Asshats," He muttered perturbed, looking down the hallway, searching for his charge. "Castiel? Oh, Castiel? Where are you?" He sung quietly to himself, "Damn, I sound like a frigging serial killer." He heard a demon coming up behind him and pressed his hand against the creature's skull. "Son of a bitch." He shook his head, finally spotting a young man sitting in his own cell. "Cas." He breathed out, examining the man. He was strong, but Dean supposed this was because he was a hunter.

He had piercing blue eyes, and he was staring at the wall ahead of him. Dean took a deep breath, entering the man's cell. The hunter looked over, before closing his eyes tightly. Dean opened his mouth, trying to speak to the human. "Okay, dude. I'm gonna save your ass, so I need you to grab my hand." Castiel covered his ears and Dean realized he didn't have a vessel yet. "Stupid human, can't even hear me."

As Castiel started to tip forward Dean rushed forward to catch him. He lifted the man into his arms, and began to walk through the halls again. "I probably look so cool right now." He smirked, "Like some superhero."

Dean strutted to the entrance, keeping the handsome man secure in his arms. He flapped his slightly burnt wings and flew back to Earth, causing a disruption on the ground. The trees flattened looking as if the wind blew them over in a single breath. The conspicuous cross in the middle of the trees stood still. Dean lowered Cas' body into the grave, making sure not to damage the restored body. Once he was certain everything was safe to leave, he gave one last glance at the resting human, before heading back up to Heaven.

The angels were restless. The higher-ups had more private meetings while the lower angels looked on with curiosity. When Dean arrived to Heaven, he was immediately greeted by the sight of a group of armed angels. They appeared to be waiting for someone important. Realizing his chance to find out what was happening, he stayed low and slunk behind a wall near by. The armed angels were met by Raphael, who they spoke to in a low tone. "The lower angels are growing restless, they are wondering where God has gone. We are running out of things to tell them."

Raphael sighed, "Tell them that God is busy fixing things in Purgatory, he doesn't have time for such petty reassurances"

The angels deflated. "We have already used that excuse, but could we not tell them what was going on, rather than lie to them?"

Raphael scowled. "Well, if you wish to have a gathering of panicking angels, then please do as you please." The angels seemed to deflate further as he spoke again. "What is to stop a lower angel from running off to find Him?"

They looked as if they would rather become a part of the floor than be present in the argument. Raphael drove his point home as he said, "We cannot tell anyone that God is no longer in Heaven! Think of the chaos it would cause. Angels running about to find him, and when the demons would find out, and then humans would suffer!"

Dean let out a small gasp as he heard Raphael. God wasn't in Heaven? He couldn't believe it. Raphael turned and Dean quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. There was a moment, then Raphael returned to his previous position of scolding the armed angels. While he readjusted himself, Dean flew off to question Anna to see what she knew.

Anna was almost no help. She was not high enough on the social ladder to know everything, but she wasn't so low that they never told her anything. She was in and out of the loop constantly. When Dean came by with information, she simply listened and gave a long, detailed opinion. If he summed up everything she said-which was a lot, and Dean didn't think she'd shut up-she said something along the lines of, "That is not likely to be true, Dean." Dean could almost hear Sammy's reply now. It would probably be something about how he almost got himself into trouble and that he should have not listened in.

By the time Dean met with Sam, he was fuming. "Dean, Anna told me what you did. You could have been in serious trouble. You should not have listened in!"

Ah there it was. The usual, 'You shouldn't have done that, You could have been killed! I can't believe you would do that!' It was Sam's favourite phrase to use with him.

"C'mon Sammy, You know that something big is going on! I had to do something! I can't just sit around and let this happen without knowing a part of it," Dean argued, though he knew he would lose the fight.

"That is not an excuse for being killed, or worse sending you to Earth!" Sam insisted.

"Can I at least tell you what happened? Or should I attempt to remove that information from my head so I don't get killed?" Dean was done arguing at that moment. He had just eavesdropped on Raphael, an archangel, he was not in the mood for arguing.

Sam looked as if he wanted to argue more, but chose not to when he saw Dean's face. "Fine. What did you overhear?"

"Apparently God has left Heaven."

"That's impossible, surely we would know! They trust us, and they would most definitely tell us if something that big happened." Dean gave a blank stare, noticing the panicked look hidden in Sam's eyes.

"Sorry, bro, but they're lying. God has left the premises. He has vacated the area. He has vamoosed," Dean smirked, enjoying the jokes flowing out of his mouth. Putting on an even deeper voice, he mimicked an airplane pilot. "Sorry about the inconvenience, but God has left the building. I repeat, God has left the building." Dean almost laughed at his words, but coughed when he noticed Sam's face.

"Dean, this is serious." Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I am serious." Sam frowned, shaking his head.

"Dean," Sam scolded his brother, "This isn't a time for jokes. If you're serious about this, then we need to figure out what's really going on." Dean nodded, and pursed his lips, trying to concentrate on finding God, but the only thought filling his mind was a certain dark-haired hunter.


	3. Chapter 2

Cas woke slowly, forcing his eyes open. He could feel a wall on every side. Panic settled in and he struggled to break free of the four walls. Cas quickly realised that he was in a coffin. Cas, being claustrophobic, let out a scream, but all that came out was a hoarse, cracked shriek. He scratched at what he thought was the lid of the coffin and when the top gave in, three pounds of dirt fell onto Cas' stiff body. Dragging himself out of the dirt, Cas felt the warmth of the sun for the first time in a long time. Using the last of his strength, he pulled himself out of the dirt and laid on the ground. Breathing heavily, Cas got up and surveyed the area around him. The trees had been flattened, looking as if a bomb had leveled them.

He started up what looked like a trail out of the woods, spotting a gas station nearby. With a raspy voice Cas called out to see if anyone was there. When no one answered, he rushed into the store, feeling slightly guilty as he grabbed the cash from the register. The first thing he needed was water, but once he had gotten that he went straight for the newspaper. Looking at the front page, he spotted the date. _October 18th, 2008._ It had only been five months since Cas died. That brought up the question, why was he alive and what brought him back? He had to call Gabriel, he had to see him, Gabe was his brother, his best friend.

Suddenly, a noise filled the room. It was loud and shrill. The glass around him shattered and his eyes widened. Cas immediately covered his ears. He ducked under the counter, trying to avoid the stray pieces. Dodging the windows and anything made of glass, he took cover under the counter. _God,_ he thought to himself. _What the hell is that?_

The piercing noise, similar to the one Cas remembered from Hell, seemed to last forever. When the buzz had ended, he took the necessary money and left to call his brother.

After a few moments of breaking glass, overpowering winds, and a constant migraine, the sound stopped. Grateful for the calm air, he stood up shakily, bolting out of the convenience store.

Cas found a payphone nearby, and he rushed to it, hoping to reach his older brother. As he slotted the quarters into the payphone, he felt slightly nervous. He hadn't spoken to Gabriel since before his trip to Hell. The phone rang for what seemed like eternity and Cas almost lost hope that anyone would answer.

Gabriel's voice filled the silence that had been there since the godawful noise had left, "Hello?"

"Gabe?" Cas hesitantly asked.

"Who is this? If this is another prank call I swear I'll find you," Was his sharp reply.

"It's Cas." It was silent for a moment and then a growl was heard on the other end.

"You leave me alone. I don't know how you got this number-God knows I've changed it enough times-but you need to stop calling." Cas frowned, glancing at the phone when his brother hung up.

Cas placed the payphone back on the hook sadly. _Screw it,_ he thought bitterly, picking the phone back up and holding it to his ear, dialing his brother's number once more.

"Gabriel, please, it's me. I need-" He was cut off by a sickening shriek.

"Shut up! I don't know who you are, but stop it. Don't call again!"

"Gabe, come on. I'm-" The phone call ended again and Castiel was left in silence.

Had his death affected his brother that much? Gabriel used to be one of the kindest people, but it seemed now that he had hardened, and was only a shell of the man he once was. He had to find out.

He spotted a 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V and grinned. This was his kind of car. He broke the driver's window, connected the two wires like Lucifer taught him to, and drove to the one place he knew he belonged.

Home.

Gabriel's home was not small. It was no mansion, not even a large house, but it was a decent sized apartment that could fit his brothers nicely. It had three bedrooms, a small kitchen, one bathroom, and a living area. It seemed, before Castiel went to Hell, that his brothers had a designated areas of the apartment, a place they spent most of their time in. Gabriel's was the kitchen, he always seemed to be eating candy, and had an entire cabinet he used to store chocolate bars, jolly ranchers, lollipops, and ding dongs. It was a miracle that he was so skinny.

Lucifer spent most of his time in his bedroom. He had a strange and dark bedroom, something he prided himself on. The walls were a raven black, and his comforter and other accessories were bright red. Lucifer was a reader, he had a very large bookshelf, filled with books and lore. Lucifer spent a year at Stanford before Gabriel went looking for him, claiming their father had gone missing and they needed to track him down.

Castiel, however, spent most of his time in the corner of the living room, on the ledge of the window where he would watch everything outside. He liked to watch the birds fly around aimlessly, not bothered by the speed of the wind, or a monster under the bed. He enjoyed watching the bees, in the little garden he made on the small deck they had outside, and how they would carefully extract the flowers' pollen. He would stare out the window for hours, something both his brothers teased him relentlessly for, and the days seemed to get the best of him.

They only stayed for a few days at a time, however, as they were constantly travelling and going on hunts. Castiel never enjoyed hunting. If it were up to him, he would stay at home and watch the bees. Gabriel found it thrilling, an endless journey full of surprises, and plot twists. Lucifer, however, found the most fun out of it. He relished killing dangerous creatures, and saving people. Lucifer could be cruel at times, but Castiel knew he had a soft spot. Lucifer loved his brothers, and he would do anything for Gabriel and himself.

When Castiel arrived at his brother's house, he was surprised to see the blinds closed, and dark shutters. The small garden Castiel loved so dearly was dead, shrinking back into the house. Castiel furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what had caused his brother to turn into a man so similar to their father.

Then it hit him. His death, his leaving to Hell, it must've broken his brother, caused him so much pain, that he resorted to letting the plants die and locking the windows and doors.

For a brief moment, in which Castiel had a small panic attack, he wondered if his brother still ate large quantities of unhealthy snack food. Surely he couldn't have changed that much?

Castiel took a breath, hesitating to knock on the door. Would Gabriel believe that Castiel was alive, that he was gripped and raised from perdition? Or would he put a knife through his heart. Cas felt his stomach twist into knots and he almost forgot how to breath. If his brother killed him without hearing him out, would Castiel be sent back to Hell? He felt a small amount of bile rise up in his throat, but he swallowed back his fear, shaking out the negative thoughts.

This was his brother. Of course he would believe him.

Cas knocked on the door, his courage slowly shrinking down to the size of a mouse. He waited for his brother to open the door. It seemed to take an eternity. He was thinking of knocking again when the door swung open.

"I swear if this is another person selling something, I will gut you. There is a freaking sign outside the door. Can't you guys…" his voice trailed off as he looked at his brother standing in the doorway.

"Hey bro." Cas said nervously, half smiling as he pushed his way into the dark apartment.

"Bu-but you were dead, and now…"

Gabe was cut off by Cas, "I know and I don't know how, but I'm here." Gabriel seemed hesitant and Cas could see shock and fear in his eyes. Cas began to talk again, but was stopped when Gabe reached in his pocket, grabbed a silver knife and attempted to stab him. Dodging the flying knife, Cas grabbed Gabe's arm and knocked the knife out of his hand.

"I'm not a demon!" Cas pleaded.

Reaching for the knife yet again, Gabe yelled, "Then what are you?"

Cas gripped his brother's arms-he was always a faster hunter than Gabriel-and looked him in the eyes. "Gabriel Novak, I know you. You know me. I am your brother." Gabe scanned Castiel's eyes, looking for any notion that his brother was lying to him.

"Tell me something only you would know."

Cas thought for a moment, eyes wandering away from Gabriel's, his mind reeling to find a memory. He looked directly into his brother's eyes, opening his mouth to speak. "When we were younger, and our father was on a hunting trip, Lucifer almost got arrested because he was trying to steal you a box of candy, and a teddy bear for me. When you were sixteen, and I was thirteen, Lucifer went on a hunting trip with Dad, and you were supposed to watch me. We stayed in this crap motel with no money, and to feed me, you pulled out three candy bars from underneath your mattress. I got sick that night because you gave me chunky milk from the fridge. When Lucifer came back, he almost murdered you he was so angry." Cas paused for a moment, thinking fondly of the next memory.

"When you bought this house, Lucifer wasn't happy with you, but he ended up supporting you, even though Dad would've killed you if he found out that you gave up hunting for a normal life, with an apartment and a job. You took me in the house and told me the window in the living room would be my favorite part of the house. You always said that when I was little I would follow the bees and butterflies when they flew around the yard. You let me grow a garden on your deck because you know how much I love flowers. Your name is Gabriel Novak and you hide candy in a hollow wall in your room. You have this strange obsession with angels, and you love crime shows. You're a man of wise-crack jokes and stupid pranks, like that time you switched Lucifer's shampoo for pink hair dye, or when you pretended to faint so many times Dad almost killed you with a hammer.

You're my brother, my idol, my best friend."

Gabriel stared at him for a moment before giving a half-smile. "Damn, Cas, you still never shut up." Castiel grinned and Gabe pulled him into a tight hug. "Come inside, brother."

Cas laughed at the formalities and entered the house. It was a mess.

 _ **AN:**_

 _I am so sorry for not updating this in forever! I probably won't continue to as I have lost inspiration. : If I get struck with an idea for this I will continue, but until then it won't be updated. Thanks for reading!_


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